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crowyhead 's review for:
Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds
by Bernd Heinrich
This book, for some reason, took me ages to get through -- I think I started reading it in April! It was still very good, just quite dense, and a hard one to sit down and read for a long time because of all of the information contained within. Heinrich has made an exhaustive study of the habits and quirks of ravens. His biggest area of interest is the measure of their intelligence; much of what ravens do seems incredibly brilliant to humans, but how much of it is innate, how much of it is learned behavior, and how much involves actual reasoning and planning? Heinrich is also fascinated by the many behaviors ravens engage in that don't seem to have any practical purpose, and spends considerable time trying to discern whether they are truly playing, or if there is something instinctual going on. Heinrich is incredibly rigorous in his studies, and thus draws very few hard and fast conclusions, but it is fascinating to realize just how intelligent and mysterious these relatively common birds are. If you are looking for a lighter, faster read on the subject, I recommend In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John M. Marzluff, Tony Angell, and Paul R. Ehrlich; it's less rigorous in terms of the science, but it's an enjoyable book nonetheless.